Service workers in a wide range of industries, including construction workers, plumbers, electricians, telecommunication service personnel, and HVAC service personnel often travel to work sites to participate in work projects. Since the work sites often lack the tools and supplies required to complete a project, the workers often carry some or all of the necessary equipment in a vehicle, such as a van or work truck, to the work site. For example, a work truck often carries a wide range of tools from hammers and screwdrivers to power tools including drills, saws, belt sanders, nail drivers, and the like. Tools can include further components such as batteries, replaceable drill bits, saw blades, sanding pads, and the like, which may require occasional replacement during a job. Additionally, the work truck often includes a wide range of consumables, such as nuts, bolts, washers, screws, nails, lumber, pipe, wire, and the like, which typically remain on the work site as part of the finished project. Consumables can further include items such as water, sunscreen, stock for portable restrooms, and other products, which are consumed at the work site.
Proper organization of tools and consumables in a work vehicle and on the work site enables workers to operate more efficiently. For example, a properly organized tool system enables a worker to find an appropriate tool for a task, such as a power screwdriver, the screws properly sized to secure two structures to one another, and a screwdriver bit that fits the power screwdriver and mates with the selected screws. If any one of these items cannot be efficiently located, then time is wasted searching for the correct components to perform the task.
An example of an organizational system that enables efficient storage and access to tools and consumables is sold commercially as the Globelyst System from Sortimo International GmbH of Zusmarshausen, Germany. The Globelyst System includes a modular system of shelving and rails that holds a plurality of storage containers, which are sold commercially as L-Boxxes by Sortimo and by Robert Bosch GmBH of Stuttgart, Germany. The individual L-Boxxes lock together and engage shelves and rails in the Globelyst System to enable organization and storage of the L-Boxxes in a secure manner in the vehicle during transport. The L-Boxxes are optionally removable for convenient transport between the vehicle and the work site. The molded inserts in the L-Boxxes enable secure storage and organization of power tools within the L-Boxxes. Due to the modular design of the Globelyst System and L-Boxxes, the work vehicle can store a wide variety of different tool and consumable loads to accommodate the requirements of different projects. While the Globelyst System is described for illustrative purposes, various other organizational systems including one or more containers, shelves, and drawers are known to the art for storage and organization of tools and consumables at a work site.
While the existing storage containers can provide organization for storing and organizing tools and consumables, the management of tools and consumables often go beyond storage and organization. For example, while containers of consumables and tools can be stored in an organized arrangement within a workshop or work vehicle, the containers and tools are often removed from the organized system and can be scattered around a work site. In a busy worksite, containers and tools can often be mislaid or stolen. Additionally, many items used at a work site should be returned to a work vehicle or other storage location at the end of each work day, but some items are often overlooked and are left vulnerable to damage or theft when the work site is not occupied. Thus, improvements to item management systems that enable improved tracking it items at work sites would be beneficial.